| |
Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1540 | - 1540—1540: Statute of Wills allows freehold land to be bequeathed
- 6 Jan 1540—6 Jan 1540: Henry VIII marries Anne of Cleves, the 'Flanders Mare', wife #4
- 9 Feb 1540—9 Feb 1540: First recorded horse racing event in Britain, at Chester
- 9 Jul 1540—9 Jul 1540: Henry VIII divorces Anne of Cleves
- 28 Jul 1540—28 Jul 1540: Thomas Cromwell executed; Henry VIII marries Catherine Howard the same day,
wife #5
|
| 2 | 1541 | - 1541—1541: Henry VIII proclaimed king (rather than feudal lord) of Ireland
|
| 3 | 1542 | - 13 Feb 1542—13 Feb 1542: Catherine Howard executed
- 14 Dec 1542—14 Dec 1542: Death of King James V of Scots; his baby daughter Mary ?Queen of Scots'
succeeds him just 6 days old
|
| 4 | 1543 | - 12 Jul 1543—12 Jul 1543: Henry VIII marries Catherine Parr, wife #6, who survives him
- 9 Sep 1543—9 Sep 1543: Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is officially crowned Queen of Scots' in
Stirling (spelling of the royal house changes from Stewart to Stuart)
|
| 5 | 1544 | - 1544—1544: Henry's VIII's Rough Wooing' of the Scottish Borders
- 1544—1544: Mary of Guise, Regent of Scotland
|
| 6 | 1545 | - 20 Jul 1545—20 Jul 1545: Mary Rose, flagship of Henry VIII, sinks in the Solent - raised in 1982
|
| 7 | 1546 | - 1546—1546: Trinity College, Cambridge founded by Henry VIII
|
| 8 | 1547 | - 1547—1547: Ivan the Terrible takes title 'Tsar of all the Russias'
- 1547—1547: Vagrants Act passed (able-bodied tramps can be detained as slaves)
- 1547—1547: English replaced Latin in church services in England and Wales
- 28 Jan 1547—28 Jan 1547: Death of Henry VIII (succeeded by Edward VI, aged 9, to 1553)
- 20 Feb 1547—20 Feb 1547: Coronation of Edward VI in Westminster Abbey
- 10 Sep 1547—10 Sep 1547: Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, said to be the first 'modern' battle to be fought in the
British Isles
|
| 9 | 1548 | - 1548—1548: Priests in England allowed to marry (about a third then did so) - but see 1554
|
| 10 | 1549 | - 1549—1549: English Parliament declares enclosures legal
- 1549—1549: First Act of Uniformity in England made Catholic Mass illegal
- 1549—1549: Wedding ring finger changed from right to left hand
- 9 Jun 1549—9 Jun 1549: First Book of Common Prayer sanctioned by English Parliament
|
| 11 | 1550 | - 1550—1550: Walloon Protestants arrive as refugees from the Low Countries
|
| 12 | 1551 | - 1551—1551: Scotland: General Provincial Council orders each parish to keep a register of baptisms
and banns of marriage
|
| 13 | 1552 | - Mar 1552—Mar 1552: An 'Act of Uniformity' imposes the Protestant prayerbook of 1552 in England
|
| 14 | 1553 | - 6 Jul 1553—6 Jul 1553: Edward VI dies; Lady Jane Grey queen for a few days only
- 19 Jul 1553—19 Jul 1553: Mary Tudor ('Bloody Mary') comes to the throne
|
| 15 | 1554 | - 1554—1554: Brief Catholic restoration under Queen Mary Tudor - married priests forced to separate
at least 30 miles from their wives
- 12 Feb 1554—12 Feb 1554: Lady Jane Grey beheaded
|
| 16 | 1556 | - 21 Mar 1556—21 Mar 1556: Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer burned at the stake in Oxford
|
| 17 | 1558 | - 1558—1558: System of Counties adopted
- 1558—1558: Scottish parish registers start
- 7 Jan 1558—7 Jan 1558: French take Calais, last English possession in France
- 24 Apr 1558—24 Apr 1558: Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to Fran?ois the Dauphin of France in Paris
- 17 Nov 1558—17 Nov 1558: Queen Mary Tudor of England dies and is succeeded by her half-sister
Elizabeth - Protestantism restored in England
|
| 18 | 1559 | - 1559—1559: Tobacco introduced to Europe
- 1559—1559: John Knox returns from Continent - strengthens case for Presbyterianism in Scotland
- 15 Jan 1559—15 Jan 1559: Elizabeth crowned in Westminster Abbey by Owen Oglethorpe, the Bishop of
Carlisle
- 29 Apr 1559—29 Apr 1559: Acts of Supremacy passed in Parliament, ending papal jurisdiction over England
& Wales; established Church of England
|
| 19 | 1560 | - 1560—1560: Establishment of Protestantism in Scotland - commissary courts thrown into confusion
- some records lost
- 27 Feb 1560—27 Feb 1560: Treaty of Berwick between Duc du Chatelherault (as governor of Scotland) and
the English, agreeing to act jointly to expel the French from Scotland
|
| 20 | 1561 | - 1561—1561: Spire of St Paul's, highest in England, destroyed by fire
- 1561—1561: The first coins produced by machinery (known as a 'mill') rather than by hand, but it
was a slow process and did not replace hand struck coinage until new machinery was
introduced in 1663
|
| 21 | 1562 | - 1562—1562: Earliest English slave-trading expedition, under John Hawkins - between Guinea and
the West Indies
|
| 22 | 1563 | - 28 Jul 1563—28 Jul 1563: The English surrender Le Havre to the French after a siege
|
| 23 | 1564 | - 26 Apr 1564—26 Apr 1564: Shakespeare baptised - he is said to have been born on Apr 23, St George's
Day; he certainly died on Apr 23, 1616
|
| 24 | 1565 | - 29 Jul 1565—29 Jul 1565: Marriage of Mary, Queen of Scots to Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, her first
cousin
|
| 25 | 1566 | - 9 Mar 1566—9 Mar 1566: Murder of David Riccio (or Rizzio) in Holyrood House
|
| 26 | 1567 | - 10 Feb 1567—10 Feb 1567: Murder of Darnley outside Holyrood House in an explosion
- 15 May 1567—15 May 1567: Marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell
- 24 Jul 1567—24 Jul 1567: Mary Queen of Scots deposed and replaced by her 1 year old son James VI
|
| 27 | 1568 | - 13 May 1568—13 May 1568: Battle of Langside - Mary's flight to England and her imprisonment by Queen
Elizabeth I
|
| 28 | 1569 | - 1569—1569: Elizabeth I approved Sunday sports
|
| 29 | 1570 | - 25 Feb 1570—25 Feb 1570: Pope Pius V issued the papal bull 'Regnans in Excelsis' to excommunicate
Elizabeth I and her followers in the Church of England
|
| 30 | 1571 | - 1571—1571: Presbyterianism introduced into England by Thomas Cartwright
- 1571—1571: Repeal of Act prohibiting lending of money on interest - gradual change from
'subsistence economy' to 'cash economy' resulted
- 1571—1571: Beginning of penal legislation against Catholics in England
- 23 Jan 1571—23 Jan 1571: Opening of the Royal Exchange in London, founded by Sir Thomas Gresham -
this building destroyed in Great Fire of London 1666
|
| 31 | 1577 | - 1577—1577: James Burbage opens first theatre in London
|
| 32 | 1579 | - 1579—1579: Act of Uniformity in matters of religion enforced
|
| 33 | 1580 | - 1580—1580: Congregational movement founded by Robert Browne about this time
- 1580—1580: Colonisation of Ireland
- 6 Apr 1580—6 Apr 1580: Dover Straits earthquake, largest in the recorded history of England, mentioned
by Shakespeare - dozens of ships sunk and a tsunami hit Calais
|
| 34 | 1581 | - 1581—1581: English Levant Company founded
- 16 Jan 1581—16 Jan 1581: English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism
- 4 Apr 1581—4 Apr 1581: Francis Drake knighted by Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind after
circumnavigating the world
|
| 35 | 1583 | - 1583—1583: University of Edinburgh founded
- 1583—1583: Foundation of Cambridge University Press by Thomas Thomas
- Aug 1583—Aug 1583: Sir Humphrey Gilbert attempts to establish English authority at St John's,
Newfoundland
|
| 36 | 1584 | - 4 Jun 1584—4 Jun 1584: Sir Walter Raleigh establishes first English colony in the New World, on
Roanoke Island, Virginia (now in North Carolina) - the so-called 'Lost Colony'
|
| 37 | 1585 | - 1585—1585: Foundation of Oxford University Press
|
| 38 | 1587 | - 1587—1587: Introduction of potatoes to England
- 8 Feb 1587—8 Feb 1587: Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, at Fotheringay Castle, near Peterborough
- 19 Apr 1587—19 Apr 1587: Sir Francis Drake sinks the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour
- 11 Aug 1587—11 Aug 1587: Raleigh's second expedition to New World lands in North Carolina - first child
born in the New World of English parents was Virginia Dare (Aug 18)
|
| 39 | 1588 | - 1588—1588: Invention of shorthand by Dr Timothy Bright
- 19 Jul 1588—19 Jul 1588: Spanish Armada sighted off the Lizard (had set sail from Lisbon in late May)
- 29 Jul 1588—29 Jul 1588: Defeat of Spanish Armada off Gravelines
|
| 40 | 1591 | - 1591—1591: Trinity College, Dublin, founded
|
| 41 | 1592 | - 1592—1592: A Congregational (or Independent) Church formed in London
- 1592—1592: Scotland: Presbyterian Church formally established - all ministers equal - no bishops -
secular commissaries appointed by the Crown
|
| 42 | 1593 | - 1593—1593: British statute mile established by law
|
| 43 | 1594 | - 1594—1594: Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, leads Irish rebellion against English rule (-1603)
|
| 44 | 1597 | - 1597—1597: Poor Law Act for erection of parish workhouses for the Poor - Poor Rate collection
allowed
|
| 45 | 1598 | - 1598—1598: Bishop's transcripts of English and Welsh parish registers start - parish records were to
be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies or 'Bishop's Transcripts' of new entries
were to be sent each month to the diocesan centre
|
| 46 | 1600 | - 1 Jan 1600—1 Jan 1600: Scotland adopts New Year beginning 1st January (previously 25th March)
- 31 Dec 1600—31 Dec 1600: British East India Company founded
|
| 47 | 1601 | - 1601—1601: Great English Poor Law Act passed
- 1601—1601: First use of fruit juice as a preventative for scurvy by James Lancaster
|
| 48 | 1602 | - 20 Mar 1602—20 Mar 1602: Dutch East India Company founded
- 8 Nov 1602—8 Nov 1602: Bodleian Library at Oxford University opened to the public
|
| 49 | 1603 | - 24 Mar 1603—24 Mar 1603: Death of Elizabeth I: union of Scottish and English crowns - under King James
VI of Scots and I of England (d. 1625)
- 25 Jul 1603—25 Jul 1603: Coronation - James VI of Scotland is crowned first king of Great Britain
|
| 50 | 1604 | - 1 Nov 1604—1 Nov 1604: Shakespeare: Othello' first presented
|
| 51 | 1605 | - 5 Nov 1605—5 Nov 1605: Gunpowder plot at Westminster (Guy Fawkes, etc)
|
| 52 | 1606 | - 1606—1606: The London Company chartered to colonise Virginia: the Susan Constant, Godspeed,
and Discovery leave England on 19th De c taking 144 days to reach America
- 1606—1606: Episcopacy established in Scotland (against wishes of the Scots)
- 31 Jan 1606—31 Jan 1606: Guy Fawkes and co-conspirators executed
- 12 Mar 1606—12 Mar 1606: Adoption of Union Flag as the flag of Great Britain' (the term Union Jack is
used officially only when the Union Flag is flown from the Jack Mast of a Royal Naval vessel)
|
| 53 | 1607 | - 14 May 1607—14 May 1607: Jamestown, Virginia settled - to become the first permanent British colony in
North America
|
Abt 1540 - 1607 (67 years) 
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